Handkerchief Fascinator

November 21, 2011

A friend of mine who recently got married asked me to make her headpiece for the wedding.

Allison and I have always talked about fascinators and our love of them. She has a collection of headbands and other fun accessories she has made to adorn her unquestionably awesome hair. I’ve never made anything of the sort. Yet for some reason she had faith in my ability to create something unique that she’d happily wear on her wedding day.

So when Allison’s mom gave her the handkerchief she’d carried in her own wedding (hand tatted by Belgian nuns, nonetheless), Allison asked me if I’d make her fascinator out of it. I was completely excited and honored, but as she handed over the handkerchief she said, “Do whatever you want. You can even cut it up.” (Did I mention she’s about as cool and carefree as they come?) But then I melted in fear. I was not going to cut into something so precious.

Instead I spent one evening folding up starched pieces of muslin, trying to figure out how I could manipulate an 11.5 x 11.5 piece of fabric into something that didn’t resemble an oversized origami piece. I had all but given up when I decided to try folding the actual handkerchief instead. And oh, what a difference new fabric can make. It crinkled up gently into something that resembled a flower.

Feeling like the rest would be easy because that initial fold had been so simple, I put the project aside for the evening planning to start fresh the next day. As it turns out, when I returned to the project I’d forgotten the method of folding used earlier, but after a few rounds of cursing and folding, I pinned it all together and took it to Allison to see if it would work. She kindly approved and so I gently stitched it together on the underside as discreetly as possible using stitches that could easily be snipped away if in the future the handkerchief needs to return to its original state.

To finish it, I encased a hair clip in 25 mm ribbon and then stitched the ribbon to the underside of the fascinator which, according to photos, successfully held everything securely to Allison’s head through the ceremony and the ensuing post-ceremony fun in Disney World. She rocked the hairpiece perfectly, but there’s really nothing she can’t pull off.

Congratulations, Allison and Pat. Thanks for trusting me with creating part of your wedding ensemble!